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Church bells ring out as we enter Urbino, a walled medieval city in the Marche region of Italy. We ride our bikes up and down steep and narrow cobble-stoned alleyways, stopping at a café, across from the Palazzo Ducale, the main attraction in this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The palace is considered a cultural gem because of its Renaissance paintings. But on this hot day last spring we don't have the time or energy to visit. Instead of works by Raphael and Piero della Francesca, all I want is an Americano and Diet Coke to replenish my electrolytes.

Our group of four riders - a retired Whistler realtor, two Brits and myself - is weary after several long climbs. We're only half way into a 100-kilometre, four-hour ride. And we're here for the romance of Italian cycling, not past artistic glories.

We're staying at the Belvedere Bike Hotel, which has become a magnet for recreational cyclists - many of them from Vancouver - who want guided rides through the kind of hilly pastoral terrain and towns they may have seen in broadcasts of the Giro d'Italia.

The Belvedere has gained a meme-like quality among road bike riders in the Vancouver area. Or at least those who own high-priced carbon-fibre bikes, religiously check their heart rate monitors, enter Gran Fondo races and happily rise at dawn to watch live TV feeds of European Grand Tour bike races.

After about 30 minutes of conversation in Urbino about the ride and other bike esoterica, our guide Felice, a former professional bike racer, says it’s time to go. Once outside the university town’s walls, we’re suddenly chasing him, as he leads us back to the Belvedere in Riccione, a resort town on the Adriatic Sea.

Our competitive little peloton quickly stretches into a single-file. We descend at high speeds on country roads, past ancient hilltop villages, the odd castle, along vineyards, and through sketchy roundabouts towards the blue water in the distance. Each rider strains to stay with the wheel ahead and not fall off the back. Nobody can relax, or take a lingering glance at the gorgeous countryside.

Not that we mind. It's an adrenalin rush. It's why we came to the Belvedere.

We're happily dazed and spent when we finally dismount at the hotel. Next on the agenda is a poolside lunch, a few hours of rest watching the French Open tennis, a swim in the sea or the pool, aperitivos at dusk and a dinner buffet, with a never-ending supply of vino rosso. Eat. Ride. Drink.

There are many bike hotels in this region of Italy - a product of the massive growth in bike tourism everywhere, from Burma to Languedoc to Cuba. These hotels, including the Belvedere, offer sedate tours to, say, Rimini, for lunch, or for a look at that city's impressive Roman and Renaissance monuments.

Guides will also take somewhat stronger riders for more arduous trips that include stops at a winery or a farm where artisanal olive oil can be sampled with bruschetta.

But what sets the Belvedere apart is the high-intensity (non extra-virgin-oil tasting) rides it offers serious cyclists whose idea of la dolce vita includes depleted energy reserves and exhausted quads, along with the Italianate heritage of ancient ruins, lovely piazzas, quiet country roads, pasta, vino and Prosecco.

Belvedere bike groups set off each morning from a seaside boardwalk one block away from the hotel, and wind their way into the hills of Riccione's home region of Emilia Romagna, or the other adjacent regions of Le Marche, Umbria, Tuscany - and even the tiny, independent republic of San Marino. It's an area of Italy with a strong cycling history. Marco Pantani, the legendary climber and winner of the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia, grew up and trained in this region of Romagna, and died in nearby Rimini.

I first heard about the Belvedere two years ago from a neighbour who had just returned from Riccione. A few weeks later a Vancouver developer told me he was flying some of his cycling buddies over to the Belvedere for a week of long rides and camaraderie. Two husbands of former newspaper colleagues have made the pilgrimage to the bike hotel.

The Belvedere may not be the place for those Vancouverites who prefer not to encounter other Lotusland types while on vacation. On my first Belvedere ride, there were four couples from Vancouver. A Vancouver realtor I met at the Belvedere once sold a house I'd owned. His kids turned out to be friends of my kids. And one afternoon at the hotel bar, I heard a woman mutter about her next-day tour: "Well, this isn't like going for a ride over to Granville Island." A non-cycling friend back home sarcastically told me the Belvedere "sounds like a summer camp for West Side Yuppies."

After arriving at the Belvedere last June, I was quickly offered a beer and a piadina, a flatbread sandwich that is a regional specialty. Before they arrived, I ran into Michele Comeau from Whistler, a communications specialist with the resort municipality who I'd interviewed years ago when I reported for The Vancouver Sun.

Comeau said the Belvedere is well-known among road bike riders in Whistler. "So when we decided to travel to Europe, it was a mustdo on our travel itinerary." Comeau and her husband, Jan Jensen, had spent the previous week riding in the Chianti region of Italy. After one week at the Belvedere, they set off on a self-guided bike tour in the Provence region of France, climbing the renowned Mount Ventoux, a Tour de France fixture.

"The Belvedere experience of being pampered and taken care of, for a portion of our time in Europe, was a great balance, a real treat," said Comeau.

Many of the Belvedere rides became mini-races with riders trying to avoid falling off the pace. After a few hills, it quickly became apparently where you stood in the pecking order, which riders were stronger or weaker. The front group, however, would always wait for the slower riders, so that everyone made it home safely.

"Between the guides and the other riders there is a spirit of camaraderie and a little healthy competitive spirit," said Comeau. "Almost everyone is here to ride and we've got to know each other pretty well and made new friends. Each evening we debate about which ride we would go on the next day. We egg each other on while supporting whatever choices anyone decides on."

Belvedere Hotel manager Marina Pasquini is delighted by her hotel's strong appeal to a niche Vancouver market. "The fantastic thing about cyclists is that they like to chat and talk while they are cycling and this way the Belvedere name has spread by word of mouth. Our cycling guests go home and tell their friends about their experience here and then not only do we have the original guest returning but also his or her friends.

"Plus almost all our cycling guests buy our Belvedere cycling outfits and this is great publicity for us."

Marina said the Belvedere brand has become strong enough that she gets requests for the hotel's bike jerseys from Canadian cyclists who have never visited.

I brought my own bike to Italy but many visitors to the Belvedere rent one of the hotel's state-of-the-art race bikes from De Rosa, a famous Italian bike manufacturer. The hotel has staff who can help with minor mechanical problems.

Vancouver personal trainer Tracy Campbell stayed at the Belvedere during the 2012 Giro d'Italia won by B.C.'s own Ryder Hesjedal. "I loved descending the rolling hills - and there were a lot of them. And there's nothing like waking up to an amazing breakfast buffet with endless cappuccinos, then riding for hours in the sunshine, followed by another buffet. Next up, watching the Giro in your bed then afternoon recovery nap, some beach time, then cocktails and another buffet."

Riccione became a tourist town early in the last century as wealthy people from nearby Bologna built summer homes there along the Adriatic Sea. The Belvedere was originally a holiday home in the early 1900s. It slowly grew into a hotel for Italian families who came to lounge and play on the 15-kilometre strip of beach behind it, one that extends along the length of Riccione and the adjacent Rimini, an ever larger and more famous resort town to the north. Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini had a villa built in Riccione. The Belvedere has been owned by the Pasquini family since 1977 and managed by Marina since 1980. She had the hotel renovated in 2005 with the addition of a spa centre, new restaurant and swimming pool, upgrading it to a four-star hotel.

The Belvedere began targeting the more hardcore element of the bike community in 2001. "In this way we could extend our season, opening from March to October," said Marina. "Until then we were only open for the summer months from the 20th of May unti the 20th of September with beach holiday guests."

Each day guests put their name on lists for the various rides scheduled for the next day. Or not - there is no obligation to join a group. Guests are free to ride on their own or simply lounge at the pool - or at the adjacent beach where sunlovers of all body types and ages recline or stroll in speedos or bikinis, creating a congestion on par with Coney Island or the Ganges.

Whistler's Comeau and Jensen had a few easy recovery days when they went exploring on their own, at their own speed, or hung out poolside. But mostly they signed up for the day's most challenging ride. "The environment is perfect for training, riding in a group, and taking it to a new level," said Comeau. "It's like our training camp for riding Mount Ventoux next week and it's a perfect preamble to riding back in the Coast Mountains in the summer back home."

The kind of rides available vary according to the number of guests and their levels of fitness. When the Belvedere is operating at full throttle there are usually five rides: The Leisure Tour (30-40 km at 10-18 km/h), for people who may prefer hybrid bikes and want a gentle ride with plenty of sightseeing, stops for photos and time for cappuccino; The Panorama Tour (40-50 km at 18-20 km/h), for those who ride racing bikes but want time to check out the Adriatic coastline and the rolling country landscape - and don't want to hammer; The Explorer Tour (60-80 km, 20-22 km/h), for cyclists who want a pace that is faster but still relaxing enough to enjoy the scenery and hit a local café; The Road Tour (80-120 km, 22-26 km/h), for strong cyclists who came for challenging climbs and some high-tempo pace, and; The Racing Tour (100-160km, 26-30 km/h), perfect for riders who compete back home and want to ride at near race-level.

My favourite tours included:

A ride to the Republic of San Marino, which included a long climb up Mount Titano to the hilltop city's medieval fortifications. After checking out the view at a café, we descended down a series of steep switchbacks at speeds that left no room for error.

A ride along the Panoramic Adriatica, a wonderful undulating road that skirts along the Adriatic coastline to the south of Riccione. The Panoramica is a favourite for local cyclists and was part of this year's Giro d'Italia.

A ride into the hills that includes a long barbecue lunch at Belvedere owner Marina's country house, where cyclists and non-cycling hotel guests are handed flutes full of Prosecco upon arrival.

A fun solo ride in street clothes to nearby Rimini, movie director Federico Fellini's hometown. I enjoyed spinning slowly down narrow alleyways and through Rimini's historic centre, stopping for lunch near the city's main piazza.

The Pink Pool Party at the Belvedere, where some Vancouver visitors ended up singing YMCA while dancing on the bridge over the pool - and later leaping into the water with their clothes on.

But the Hotel Belvedere is not all about the bike.

Whistler's Maggi Thornhill enjoyed the more sedentary aspects of Italian tourism - sunbathing, spa treatments, shopping - while her husband David was off hammering on the roads with me and his two British mates.

"So what does one do if you don't leave at 9:30 a.m. with all the serious bike riders who head out to explore the surrounding countryside?," said Thornhill. "Well, we enjoy walking along the trail that goes for miles along the beach, or riding our cruiser bikes. One day we rode our bikes to Rimini, with one of the guides, a 12-km ride each way, easy riding to a beautiful town!"

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